In the Press...
Newspaper article on Smith legislationSmith bill seeks fix for joint base pay disparityBy David Levinsky BCT Staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, June 17, 2015 3:15 pmU.S. Rep. Chris Smith is taking another crack at correcting a lingering pay disparity issue for some civilian workers on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The veteran lawmaker introduced the Joint Base Pay Parity Act last week to try to correct the disparity caused when the joint base was formed in 2009 from the formerly separate installations of Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base and Lakehurst Naval Engineering station. Under federal pay scales, civilian workers at Lakehurst, which is in Ocean County, earned higher salaries or a higher hourly wage because that portion of the base is considered in the New York pay area. Fort Dix and McGuire employees with the same job continue to earn lower pay because their formerly separate installations are in the Philadelphia area. The issue was first addressed in 2009 by Smith, R-4th of Robbinsville, and other New Jersey representatives, including former Rep. Rob Andrews, of the 1st Congressional District, and the late John Adler, of the 3rd District. The trio pressured the federal Office of Personnel Management to agree to raise the salaries of civilians working on McGuire and Dix to the higher Lakehurst rate. The change was approved only for salaried workers. The disparity for about 600 "wage scale" employees has remained despite requests to the Office of Personnel Management to make the change for the remaining employees. Smith's bill seeks to mandate that the disparity be corrected at the joint base and any other installation where a similar disparity occurs as a result of an installation merger or reorganization.
In a Jan. 10 speech on the House floor, Smith said it was time for the long-standing issue to be resolved. "(Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst) is one installation, and the men and women who work there are part of one workforce," he said. "It is time to fix this outdated policy, and I'm hopeful you'll work with me to bring fairness to the roughly 20 percent of the workforce who do not receive equally earned pay." Smith's bill is the latest legislative effort to address the disparity. Former Rep. Jon Runyan pushed for a fix and was able to get language to do so included in a 2014 defense bill that was approved by the GOP-controlled House. The language was not part of the Senate version of the same bill or the Senate-House conference bill. |
